Secret Journey to Planet Serpo

Did a delegation of US military personnel really visit another planet back in the 1960? Was this journey the secret inspiration for the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind? This week on Dreamland, we explore these questions with UFO researcher Len Kasten, who has found some provocative evidence that this legendary journey might actually have taken place.

Len Kasten is a longtime UFO researchers, a member of the Mutual UFO Network and of the former National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena. His articles have appeared in Atlantis Rising and New Dawn magazines, and he is also the author of the Secret History of Extraterrestrials.

Whitley Strieber comments, "I heard a rumor about this from a well-placed scientist back in 1995, so when it surfaced again, I was interested, but I've always had trouble believing that it could be true. Len Kasten makes a good case, and turns up some surprising evidence."

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Are Films and TV Used to Prepare for Contact?

Len Kasten begins by discussing the mystery of the "Yellow Book" which is supposedly a history of what has really happened on Earth, very different from our own histories, then gets into whether or not movies like "Close Encounters" are being used to prepare us for contact. Whitley Strieber points out that the first movies that are reputedly preparation for contact offer a positive image of the visitors, but that there has been a change: current offerings are much darker and ominous. Listen as Len Kasten offers his considered response to why this would be so.

I really had a good time with Len Kasten. I've always wondered about this wild story, but his research is so extensive, it really made me think. The idea of a journey to another planet is so fascinating, I just found myself entranced. It's a wonderful couple of interviews.

Posted by Whitley Strieber on 25 Oct 2013 at 17:17

Thanks for all the great information on this site. The archive is fantastic.
With regard to the Len Kasten interviews, the sound was so murky it was difficult to understand everything being said. Would it be possible to supply a transcript of the interview in the subscribers section?

cheers

Posted by Rory on 25 Oct 2013 at 17:42

I don't believe this story for a second.. then again, I wouldn't expect anyone else to believe my own experiences. In my experiences, the 'visitors' take extra care to act based on our own cultural norms, how we treat others. That can be a problem, because we tend to not treat each other with much respect.

Click -> Tools -> Effects and Filters. Click [enable] and in the [Preset] drop-box, choose [Live] and also click [2 pass] ... this will modulate the sound output to a more live-like tone.

Posted by rainmaker on 26 Oct 2013 at 00:18

I love Dreamland, but the sound quality on this show was so terrible I only got about 10% of what Len said. This could be because I downloaded the low bandwith version of both shows - which I persevered with - but I actually would classify this recording as inaudible. Is the high bandwith version better?

Posted by mikhael east on 26 Oct 2013 at 05:23

I'm sorry about the sound quality! We are attempting to fix it and repost the file. What caused the deterioration in the sound is not clear. Normally, our sound is first-rate.

Posted by Whitley Strieber on 26 Oct 2013 at 15:52

Mikhael, please tell us you are joking.

Posted by Plus_Ultra on 26 Oct 2013 at 17:34

Re-posting this would be a great because I could not get much from the existing audio either. Thanks Whitley!

Could you also correct the volume-difference between you and the guest? Also, the "intro" and "break" volumes are much louder and jolt delicate ears (especially when when wearing headphones), in this audio and most others too (I like to listen to the info in these breaks too!). Could you please correct this disparity? Thank you so much... I absolutely do not want to miss a single thing you publish!

Posted by Indigo on 26 Oct 2013 at 19:34

He mentions a movie in this interview. Would love to watch it. Did anyone catch the name?

Posted by Leslie Cooper on 26 Oct 2013 at 21:52

Sorry to splash some cold water on this, but the Serpo story is being marketed by the same people who fed disinformation to Paul Bennewitz, who, getting close to actual classified programs at Kirtland Airforce Base was lead to look for aliens when there weren't any there. The resulting stress caused a mental breakdown and his eventual suicide. There's great documentation about this in "Project Beta", and just a few months ago Greg Bishop, the author of that, laid out his opinion that Serpo is being fed by the same people. So, buyer beware, be really aware on this one.

Posted by jm on 26 Oct 2013 at 22:56

Rainmaker, thanks for the suggestion, this really helped!

Posted by Catsmeow on 27 Oct 2013 at 00:50

Not fixed yet...it's probably not easy or technically possible. Beyond the odd distortion, I think one thing that will help in the future is to run a short audio test and see if the phone that the person being interviewed has good sound quality. I noticed this on a few interviews in the past years, particularly the latest of William Henry's interviews with Patrice Chaplin. Too bad too, especially since she is really interesting. If they cannot provide a decent phone on their end then, thank them for trying but let them know you can't bother to waste the time, expense, and effort with an interview.

Posted by EE on 29 Oct 2013 at 15:48

I'm with JM on this one. Serpo is at best a hoax and more than likely a viral marketing campaign brought to us by the intelligence services. Either the person responsible for vetting these guests has dropped the ball completely or Whitley has been drinking the coffee at Col. Alexander's house. Listeners beware.

Posted by Katabasis on 29 Oct 2013 at 17:39

Yes, the background on the whole Serpo incident is sketchy and has more twists and turns than I can count.. But regardless, it's a fascinating story and a wildly enjoyable "what if". Thanks for the great interview, Whitley.

Posted by Finchy74 on 30 Oct 2013 at 02:12

It's not feasible to fix the sound, unfortunately.

Posted by Whitley Strieber on 30 Oct 2013 at 17:28

The upcoming Halloween Special has beautiful sound, as do most of our shows. I really hate it when this happens, especially because we can't identify why it did, and the software that usually clears up problems like this was not effective.

Posted by Whitley Strieber on 30 Oct 2013 at 17:29

Oh well, that's life...better luck in the future.

Posted by EE on 31 Oct 2013 at 14:30

I came to this a bit late, and reading all the comments decided to depart from my usual practice and download the 7.5 bandwidth. It is quite comprehensible. Whitley doesn't sound quite like Whitley which is a bit strange as his voice is so instantly familiar, but all is well.